Mbuna And Upside Down Catfish (synodontis Nigriventris)

I've had a 60 gallon tank set up for a couple of months with a mixture of assorted mbuna's (18) and 2 upside down catfish that were added at the same time as the original 10 mbuna (8 more were added a couple weeks later). The mbuna are all still juveniles. The 2 catfish are getting picked on quite a bit and hide pretty much all of the time (I realize they are nocturnal, but I always see them in the same spot no matter the time of day). The ones that seem to pick on them the most are the golden mbuna and yellow-tail acei. I believe there should be ample hiding spots/broken site lines/etc with my setup, but the catfish don't appear to be doing real well.

My questions are: is a catfish even needed in an mbuna tank (the mbuna seem pretty good at eating everything that sinks off of the sand) and is there any chance the catfish can improve/do better...or is it best to take them back to the LFS (I do not have any other tanks)? Their fins are starting to look nipped now, so I would like to do whatever is best for them. Thanks for the help.

 

You never “need” bottom feeders in a fish tank. There is no fish that should be kept just for cleaning purposes. If you are worried about left over food then feed less. My Africans rarely leave on the sand.

Mbuna live closer to the bottom levels than most cichlids so it’s no wonder they are harassing the catfish. I made the same mistake with my lace catfish, he was kept with mbuna for the first few months and lost his dorsal fin because of it. Now Stubby gets along pretty well with his non mbuna tank mates (peacocks mainly).

 

Synodontis nigriventris is not a lake Syno, they are riverine from softer, acid waters of the Zaire basin. S. eupterus is a river fish from the White Nile, and also prefers softer water with near acid pH. Appropriate Synodontis types from Tanganyika (hard, alkaline waters) will work with Malawian Cichlids, including Mbuna. In fact, S. multipunctatus, the Cuckoo Catfish, has been observed in aquaria using various Mbuna species as surrogate mothers.

However, as noted above, you should not need any catfish cleanup crews if you feed correctly.

 

If you want a bottom feeder in your Mbuna tank, your hardscape needs to be more complex. Your tanks look good, but the honeycombed holey rock is positioned symmetrically, straight upright. It doesn't provide suffecient shelter. I know it won't look as good, but leaning and stacking your decor will provide a lot more cover & concealment. A trip to your local rockyard might be a good idea. Twenty bucks will usually buy enough rocks to fill a tank. I know the replica Texas Holey rocks are expemsive.
Some of the bigger Botia Loaches like the Red Tails & Tigers do well with Africans. They can fight back with eye blades.
Once stung with a blade, the Cichlids leave them alone.

 

Thanks all. I'll re-home the catfish. I may have had the species wrong as I just googled and tried to go by pics.